This invention relates to a refrigerator, and in particular a bottom mount refrigerator, having a vertically and horizontally adjustably mounted insulated pull-out door.
In the last few years bottom mount refrigerators have been re-introduced in the marketplace. A bottom mount refrigerator has the fresh food compartment located vertically above the freezer compartment. The bottom freezer compartment is typically smaller than the top fresh food compartment.
Several different door mounting arrangements have been implemented to close the front access opening to the lower or bottom freezer compartment. In one arrangement the freezer door is mounted by hinge pins to the sidewall of the refrigerator compartment to allow the door to swing open about a vertical axis. In another door mounting arrangement the door drops or hinges about a horizontal axis.
In yet another mounting arrangement for a bottom drawer in a bottom mount refrigerator, a pull-out drawer type door moves horizontally relative to the refrigerator cabinet. In this arrangement, a door panel is secured to mounting rails that telescopically extend from the freezer cabinet to allow a front door panel to be pulled out and pushed in relative to the cabinet to respectively effect opening and closing of the freezer compartment. Typically, this pull-out door has a container in which food articles are held and are accessible to the user when the door is pulled out from the cabinet.
The problem with a pull-out door for a refrigerator cabinet is that the door is mounted directly to the telescopic arms of the guide rails and as a result, the positioning and securing of the guide rails within the cabinet is critical to the proper alignment of the front door panel to close the front access opening of the freezer compartment and effect a proper seal with the cabinet. In some instances the placement of the guide rails is not within horizontally tolerances and results in the door being slightly canted relative to the cabinet resulting in an poor seal of the closed door relative to the cabinet.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved mounting assembly wherein the door is mounted to the cabinet in a manner that compensates for manufacturing assembly tolerances associated with the telescopic guide rails and cabinet so as to provide for an improved door seal and fit with the cabinet.
The present invention relates to a refrigerator cabinet having a pull-out lower food compartment insulated door that is mounted by a pair of mounting brackets to telescopically extendable guide rails. The guide rails are mounted within the cabinet. The mounting brackets each have a front plate which is secured against an inner liner of the insulated door and a side plate that is secured to a first rail end of the telescopically extendable guide rails. The use of this separate mounting bracket that is secured to both the door and one of the guide rails, permits for either vertical adjustment, horizontal adjustment, or both of the door relative to the cabinet of the refrigerator.
At least one of the side plates of the mounting brackets or the first rail ends of the guide rails cooperates with a fastener for permitting relative adjustable vertical movement between the side plate and the first rail end prior to securing the fastener. Alternatively, the first vertical adjustment may be achieved by at least one of the front plates of the mounting brackets or the inner liner of the door cooperating with a fastener for permitting relative adjustable vertical movement between the front plate and the inner liner prior to securing the fastener. The fastener may pass through aligned apertures in the side plate and the first rail end or the front plate and the inner liner. At least one of the side plate and cooperating first rail end or the front plate and inner liner has enlarged apertures permitting the relative movement between cooperating parts. This vertical adjustment may comprise one of the aligned apertures being slotted or enlarged in the vertical direction. This permits the fastener which passes through this vertically enlarged or slotted aperture to be slid along the slotted aperture thereby permitting relative vertical adjustment of the door to the telescopical guide rails. In one embodiment, the door and the bracket may be moved vertically. In the alternate embodiment, the door may be moved vertically adjustable relative to the bracket.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the adjustment of the door horizontally relative to the telescopic guide rails is contemplated by at least one aligned aperture in the inner liner and the front plate of the mounting bracket having a horizontal enlarged or slotted aperture to permit for horizontal displacement of the door relative to the mounting brackets. A reinforcing plate of metal or plastic is positioned in the door against the liner adjacent the placement of the front plate. A threaded fastener, preferably a shoulder screw, passes through aligned apertures in the front plate, inner liner and reinforcing plate with the head of the screw resting flat adjacent or against the front plate first. The threaded portion of the screw fastener is secured to the apertures in the reinforcing plate. The unthreaded shoulder portion of the screw is able to slide horizontally within the horizontally enlarged or slotted apertures permitting relative horizontal movement of the door relative to the mounting bracket, guide rails and refrigerator cabinet. Thus the horizontal adjustment means of the present invention permits for horizontal displacement of the door relative to the cabinet during closing of the door so as to compensate for variations in the distance between the guide rails mounted to the refrigerator cabinet.
The preferred vertical adjustment is to have a vertically elongated slotted aperture in the first end rails of the guide rails which vertically slotted aperture is aligned with circular apertures in the adjacent side plates of the mounting brackets. A threaded fastener passes through the aligned apertures with the head of the screw resting flat adjacent or against the first end rail and a locking nut threaded onto the threaded stem secured against the side plate of the mounting bracket either directly or through a washer.
In the preferred embodiment, the horizontal adjustment of the door relative to the cabinet is achieved by the front plate of the mounting bracket having a horizontal elongated slotted aperture through which a fastening threaded screw passes with the head of the screw engaging a washer against the front plate. The inner liner has a supporting plate positioned behind and flush with the liner. The supporting plate has threaded apertures aligned with the aligned apertures of the inner liner and the horizontally slotted apertures of the front plate. The threaded apertures in the reinforcing plate receive the thread stem of the shoulder screws to fasten or lock the front plate against the inner liner of the door. In the preferred embodiment, the four sets of aligned apertures and threaded fasteners each mount the side plate to the end rail and the front plate to the inner liner.
It is within the realm of the present invention that the fastening means may alternately comprise a threaded stem extending from one of the mounting brackets and or a first end rail and inner liner passing through a corresponding slotted aperture in the mounting bracket front plate or side plate or the end rail and the liner.
The present invention has the advantageous feature of permitting vertical and/or horizontal adjustment of the door relative to the cabinet to compensate for improper door alignment with the cabinet as a result of potential guide rail assembly imperfections. Further, the use of the shoulder screw permits for relative horizontal adjustment of the door to the guide rails during door closing to permit for a proper and effective door seal.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a refrigerator comprising an insulated cabinet including at least one food compartment having opposing interior side walls and an open front. The refrigerator has an insulated door adapted to close the open front of the at least one food compartment. The insulated door has a inner liner facing the open front of the food compartment. A pair of telescopically extendable guide rails are each mounted to one of the opposing interior side walls and each have a first rail end adjacent the open front when the door is closed and that passes through the open front when the door is open. The refrigerator has a pair of mounting brackets for mounting the insulated door to the side rails such that the door slides into a sealing engagement with the cabinet across the open front when in the door is closed. The refrigerator has vertical adjustment means carried by at least one of the side plate and first rail end and cooperating with the first fastener means for permitting relative adjustable vertically movement between the side plate and the first rail end prior to securing the first fastener means. The mounting brackets each have a front plate secured by at least one second fastener means to the inner liner of the insulated door and a side plate secured by at least one first fastener means to the first rail end of a corresponding one of the pair of guide rails.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a refrigerator comprising an insulated cabinet including at least one food compartment having opposing interior side walls and an open front. The refrigerator has an insulated door adapted to close the open front of the at least one food compartment. The insulated door has a inner liner facing the open front of the food compartment. A pair of telescopically extendable guide rails are each mounted to one of the opposing interior side walls and each have a first rail end adjacent the open front when the door is closed and that passes through the open front when the door is open. The refrigerator has a pair of mounting brackets for mounting the insulated door to the side rails such that the door slides into a sealing engagement with the cabinet across the open front when the door is closed. The mounting brackets each have a side plate secured by at least one first fastener means to the first end rail and a front plate extending from the side plate. The front plate is secured by at least one second fastener means to the inner liner of the insulated door. The refrigerator includes horizontal adjustment means carried by at least one of the front plate and inner liner end and cooperating with the second fastener means for permitting relative adjustable horizontal movement between the front plate and the inner liner prior to securing the second fastener means.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a refrigerator comprising an insulated cabinet including at least one food compartment having opposing interior side walls and an open front. The refrigerator has an insulated door adapted to close the open front of the at least one food compartment. The insulated door has a inner liner facing the open front of the food compartment. A pair of telescopically extendable guide rails are each mounted to one of the opposing interior side walls and each have a first rail end adjacent the open front when the door is closed and that passes through the open front when the door is open. The refrigerator has a pair of mounting brackets for mounting the insulated door to the side rails such that the door slides into a sealing engagement with the cabinet across the open front when the door is closed. The mounting brackets each have a front plate secured by at least one second fastener means to the inner liner of the insulated door and a side plate secured by at least one first fastener means to the first rail end of a corresponding one of the pair of guide rails. The refrigerator has vertical adjustment means carried by at least one of the front plate and inner liner and cooperating with the second fastener means for permitting relative adjustable vertically movement between the front plate and the inner liner prior to securing the second fastener means.